In the News

New Pressure-Treated Lumber Promises Less Corrosion

After concern about the toxicity of CCA-treated lumber led
manufacturers to voluntarily phase it out of general use in
January 2004, a new problem emerged: The less-toxic,
copper-based preservatives that replaced CCA — such as
ACQ and copper azole — were much more corrosive to
metal fasteners and connectors. (Galvanic corrosion, as it's
called, occurs when dissimilar metals like copper and steel
— or copper and the zinc coating on galvanized steel
— come into contact in the presence of water.)
Connector maker Simpson Strong-Tie launched a campaign to make
builders and consumers aware of the issue and ramped up
production of corrosion-resistant stainless steel and heavily
galvanized connectors.

However, the recent introduction of lumber treated with a
copper-free preservative has the potential to greatly reduce
such concerns. Generically known as PTI (for the chemicals
propiconazole, tebuconazole, and imidacloprid), the new
compound was developed by Georgia-based Arch Wood Protection,
which markets the treated lumber under the trade name
Wolmanized L3 Outdoor Wood. PTI lumber has been code-compliant
through an ICC evaluation report since its introduction about a
year ago; it's expected to receive final approval from the
American Wood Protection Association sometime this winter
— which, since AWPA standards are referenced in
virtually all building codes, may significantly expand its
use.

Arch's literature refers to PTI as "carbon-based," meaning
that the preservative molecules are nonmetallic, explains Arch
spokesman Huck DeVenzio. The company planned to describe the
preservative as "organic," DeVenzio notes, because its chemical
structure classifies it as an organic molecule. "But the EPA
told us not to use that word," he says. "‘Organic'
means something very different to a consumer than it does to a
chemist."

In contrast to copper-based preservatives, which give treated
wood a characteristic greenish tint, PTI is colorless. Green
dye is added during production to show that the finished lumber
has been pressure treated. And unlike lumber treated with
copper-based preservatives — which at high retentions
can be used in ground-contact applications — PTI
lumber is rated for nonground-contact outdoor use only.

According to DeVenzio, PTI-treated wood holds paint noticeably
better than similar wood treated with a copper preservative and
has less of a tendency to dull saw blades and edge tools.

Mark Crawford, vice president of engineering at Simpson
Strong-Tie, expressed cautious support for Arch's claims about
PTI. "Arch says it's no more corrosive than untreated wood, but
we haven't verified that for ourselves through testing," he
says. "But it doesn't have any metal, so I would expect it to
have a significantly lower potential for corrosion." —
Jon Vara

Offcuts

• With
the upcoming presidential election making it unlikely that the
federal government will tackle immigration reform before
mid-2009 at the earliest, several states have moved to address
the issue on their own in the meantime. On January 1, new laws
took effect in Arizona and Tennessee that penalize companies
for knowingly employing undocumented workers, by suspending or
revoking their business licenses. Whether the new laws will
prove enforceable and how they will affect the labor supply
remains to be seen; ditto for whether federal courts will allow
states to enact immigration requirements beyond those imposed
by the federal government.

• A federal judge has ordered Half Moon Bay, Calif.,
to pay a landowner $36.8 million for damage to a 24-acre plot
of land. The site had been slated for residential development
since 1976, and in 1984 the city constructed storm drains on
the property to alleviate flooding. When the city denied a
building permit for the site in 2000 on the grounds that it was
a protected wetland, the current owner successfully argued that
the city's earlier drainage project was responsible for the
wetland designation. The city is likely to appeal the award,
which is roughly three times its annual operating budget.

• The spectacular career of the Bonnie and Clyde of
mortgage fraud appears to be over, at least for now. In
November, Tampa, Fla., resident Matthew Cox was sentenced to 26
years in prison and ordered to pay $5.9 million to more than
100 victims for a three-year crime spree across a half-dozen
southeastern states. (Cox's partner, Marie Hauck, was caught
and sentenced to a five-year prison term in 2006.) The pair
took advantage of a hot mortgage market to obtain multiple
mortgage loans on about two dozen homes that they contracted to
buy through accomplices or with stolen identities.

• Developers in the Chicago-area suburb of Cary, Ill.,
will be charged a fee of at least $6,000 for any cul-de-sacs
they build, reports the Chicago Tribune. Village administrator
Cameron Davis says the charge is meant to offset the extra cost
— $20,000 over 30 years, according to the village's
estimates — of plowing, paving, and maintaining a
cul-de-sac (compared with a regular street). "Fuel, time, and
what you spend on extra asphalt for a cul-de-sac ... it all
adds up," he explains.

Employers Must Pay
for Safety Gear, OSHA Says

OSHA rules are pretty clear about when workers are required
to use personal protective equipment. But who is responsible
for paying for it — the employee or the employer
— has been a source of disagreement for many years (In
the News, 3/07). This past November, the agency finally made
its position clear in a ruling scheduled to take effect on
February 13. (An enforcement grace period lasting until May 15
gives companies extra time to comply.)

Somewhat surprisingly — given the agency's history
— the new rule is quite flexible and doesn't require
any documentation. (For example, employers don't need to keep
receipts.) Moreover, it allows a range of payment options:
Employers can buy the equipment outright and issue it to
employees, or give them a PPE allowance, or reimburse them for
purchases they made themselves. If employees want to upgrade,
they are welcome to do so at their own cost; the employer need
pay only up to the amount of a standard piece of gear.

The rule's preamble states that inspectors can determine
compliance by interviewing employees — particularly
any who lack the correct equipment. Also, according to Marie
Lynn, a compliance officer with the Denver-area OSHA office,
the new standard involves no citation flow-through from
subcontractor to prime contractor. In other words, if you're
the prime contractor, you're responsible for making sure that
any subcontractor employees on your site are equipped with the
required PPE — but you don't need to concern yourself
with who paid for it.

For more information on the new rule, go to
www.osha.gov/briefing.html and read over — or at least
skim — the 249-page preamble. — Michael
Davis